


Every Promise Emptied

by YellowMagicalGirl



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Don’t copy to another site, Gen, I imagine that having your own child as your medical patient is scary, Post-Canon, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 05:28:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17698526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YellowMagicalGirl/pseuds/YellowMagicalGirl
Summary: Once again, Jim had rushed in alone.





	Every Promise Emptied

**Author's Note:**

  * For [genericfanatic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/genericfanatic/gifts).



Jim woke up to his mom gazing worriedly at him.

That was odd, she was supposed to be back home in Arcadia, not all the way here in New Trollmarket.

“Hey, kiddo, how do you feel?” she asked.

He tried to sit up and groaned in pain. “Like I probably would have if AAARRRGGHH!!! had punched me in the chest while I was still human. Um, not that I’m unhappy to see you or anything, but why are you here and not back home?”

“Despite everything, your anatomy is more human than Blinky felt safe treating beyond the bare minimum.”

Oh. Right.

The Jersey Devil was actually a type of dragon. Jim hadn’t felt so helplessly outmatched in a fight ever since he had traded away his humanity eight months ago, but here he was, lying in a makeshift hospital bed.

“If you you continue resting for the next week, you should make a full recovery. You don’t need to stay on  _total_  bed rest, but you shouldn’t be doing anything more strenuous than,” she said before frowning, as if she was trying to figure out a good equivalent considering her son’s enhanced strength. “More strenuous than carrying several books at a time on a relatively flat surface.”

“Will do, Mom,” Jim said, and she turned away from him to grab something from the bag of medical supplies.

“I wish I could believe you,” she said in a voice too soft for human ears to hear.

“Wait, why?” he asked. Given the range of expressions that crossed her face, she had forgotten that just like the rest of him his ears weren’t human.

“You didn’t have back-up when you attacked that dragon, did you?”

“No,” Jim said.

“I think I remember Blinky, Claire, and Toby saying that you promised to stop rushing in alone after the Darklands. And yet we’re here. I don’t know what diseases you can get because you’re half troll. You can’t go to any nearby hospital because you’re not human anymore. For your own health, you need to  _stop_ making empty promises! I really thought I raised you better than that.” She took a deep breath, as if to calm herself. “Jim, I love you, and I don’t want to lose you, but one day you’re going to rush in alone and no one will be able to rescue you.”

Jim would have promised again that he would stop, but that would be making another empty promise.


End file.
